cardboard, leave it. It has lost its strength. If it
sings well, give it your weight. Never take just
one vine, always take three or four."
I
WAS SURPRISED at how quickly I became
accustomed to this frightening realm. At
first I had nightmares about climbing
through the labyrinth of galleries and
chambers. I felt as if I were moving through
the twisted bowels of some mythical under
world creature. But soon, after climbing every
day with the nest gatherers, the creaking bam
boos, the darkness, and the ever present void
were just a part of the job.
During my first visit to the cave, I climbed
as the nest gatherers did-freestyle. When I
returned to complete this story, I used climb
ing ropes and other alpinist's gear. I was
joined by Sylvain Bardoux, who had climbed
with me in many difficult situations in the
Himalaya, and, thanks to modern equipment,
he and I were able to go where even the nest
gatherers never ventured. One day we discov
ered a wall of white nests but did not dare pull
them away with our bare hands. A gatherer
always removes the nests with his rada. These
tools are blessed and imbued with magic pow
ers: Taking the nests without them was like
stealing from the cave's spirits and would
anger them. If a nest gatherer finds that he has
To keep his hands free, Sahat grips a torch in
his teeth as he works. Such torches-made
from bark soaked in resinous sap and tied with
string-cast a broad light on the cave walls,
more useful than the narrow beams of their
flashlights. When necessary Sahat ties a torch,
along with his rada, to the end of a bamboo
pole (above) to reach hard-to-get nests.
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